Honour your mother! This is for all who take their parent/s for granted. There are many reasons why most of us don’t give more time to our parents but please take note that their clocks are ticking much faster than ours and before you know it they will not be there.

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.” The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked.

My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, “she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favour,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some other time.”

I am dedicating this to my dear, lovely mother. Your face preserved forever on the www

The secret of her importance lies in the tremendous burden and responsibility that is placed upon her, and the difficulties that she has to shoulder – responsibilities and difficulties some of which not even a man bears. This is why from the most important obligations upon a person is to show gratitude to the mother, and kindness and good companionship with her. And in this matter, she is to be given precedence over and above the father.[…] And I have no doubt that my mother – may Allah shower His mercy upon her – had a tremendous effect upon me, in encouraging me to study; and she assisted me in it. May Allah greatly increase her reward and reward her with the best of rewards for what she did for me (Majmoo’ Fatawa wa Maqalat Mutanawwi’ah)

Just another gadget? Will i still need my combination microwave oven and grill?It appears that the Halogen oven is going to be a godsend ” A piece of kit that enables you to cook faster without loss of quality, and which saves energy into the bargain”. It may look low-tech, and it’s a fraction of the size of your normal cooker –
but this odd-looking contraption will revolutionise the way you cook, saysRichard Ehrlich

It cooks meat beautifully and it’s moist compared to meat cooked in the traditional oven. It’s cheap to run because you use a lower temperature and less cooking time, obviously heating up a big oven to cook a chicken breast or pork chop costs more than to use the halogen. No need to preheat either.

I just couldn’t manage without it, I use it almost every day.

This little oven cooks fast! I took it to work and made steak and potatoes for all my co-workers in less than 40 min. It’s easily portable, and cleaning.

This has been one of the best purchases I have made. Use it daily, saves energy and cooks wonderfully.

I have cooked many things in the oven and have not had a single problem.The fact that the oven heats up so quickly make things like warming mince pies (this is the season) or other types of pies and pasties very quick and you still get the crispness which you can’t get from a microwave.

Its healthy because you don’t need to use oil and the fat drains off the meat. I Just spray some olive oil if need be.

Wow!!!! Its got everything i need,things can only get better. Have i sold you on this or have you already got one? I would love to hear from you if you have. I have heard that you can adapt most recipes very easily.

I have been waiting for 3 days for delivery and its late coming . Its like waiting for an exciting date and your hopes are dashed every hour it is late 😦 and i am becoming impatient. I have moved my Turkish teapot and my food processor off my work surface and my space is ready so i hope it comes today!!

I will be adding more to this post when i get to use the oven and give my point of view and perhaps some recipes on my other blog Food Glorious Food

DAY 3 of using the oven.

I love it. Its clean minimum smells, beautifully cooked food, quick and i would certainly recommend it. I am glad i have the extender because it helps the air circulate much better and you get an even browning if you are cooking something quite big.i.e a chicken.

Before going for his walk today, hubby smiled at me and gave me a peck on the cheek. I asked with a smile ‘what is that in aid of?’ he said ” i just looked at you and remembered all the years we have spent together”. I wonder if that’s because i was in the kitchen preparing vegetables for soup and his main memories are of me in the kitchen :-/. However, this was a lovely unexpected gesture:-)) as he is not a very demonstrative man and these occasions are sporadic.

It got me thinking….in 4 years time we will have been married 50 years. Wow!! Believe me when i say it just seems like 20 years. Time flies past so quickly that is seems like a blink of the eye and your collecting your pension. I feel blessed and i want to share a picture with my followers of my lovely hubby ,children,grandchildren and foster daughter. You might think I’m showing off, and yes…. i am because i am so happy and proud of what i have and i wish the same for all couples. (p.s don’t know why my eyes are always closed when i have my picture taken 😦 )

Being married is not easy and everyone has their ups and downs and we are no exception. They say, never go to bed on an argument…well we have! I am sure we all try not to but in reality it does not always work. My stance on this is not to let an argument fester and things generally look better in the morning so sort out your problems asap. Mutual respect, consideration for each other are very important and cover a multitude of things. Knowing that you can depend on each other whatever the situation and talking about your feelings. These things have to be a two way street. Although i have my own way a lot because my hubby is so laid back i still respect his opinion and discuss things with him. If he ever says no to anything that concerns us both then i will listen and refrain. I never take advantage of his kindness and vice versa.

One of the nicest things you can say to your partner, “If I had it to do over again, I’d choose you. Again.”

Because I realise just how extremely lucky I was and how unlikely are the odds of finding just the right man I’d be the last one to advise anyone else on how to do it and also the last to judge anyone whose marriage didn’t work out because they hadn’t been as fortunate as me.However i do think that many people rush into relationships and expect them to just keep working after the honeymoon period not expecting to re adjust, not to expect falling out periods, feel defeat at the first signs of a crisis. We cant expect to spend our whole life in close proximity to another person without some trials and tribulations .

Good quotes:

Coming together is the beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
Henry Ford

What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.

Leo Tolstoy

A good marriage is the union of two good forgivers. Ruth Bell Graham

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..”

Like this:

Is it an age thing? I cant stand bad language and disassociate myself from people who use it because it makes me cringe. I think that it’s not only a sign of ignorance, it’s also a sign of showing off. If someone starts swearing during a conversation, I’ve already lost a lot of respect for them. If someone occasionally says something out of frustration, I’m a tiny bit more tolerant to that, but I dont tolerate useless swearinggenerally.

I would just say that who swear are not able to articulate their opinion or emotion very clearly if they have to use foul language or swearing.

We hear bad language from the media,from celebreties and mostly from the TV. A recent survey showed that 90% of parents in the USA use bad language in presence of their children, something that is quite shameful. Here in the UK its estimated at 65% and even thats bad enough. How on earth can we teach our kids that foul language is not acceptable when they hear it day in and day out

There are many psychologists and modern thinkerts who will give different excuses for the use of foul language, i think they are just trying to fit into what they call the “new age.”.

Jsut to add a little extra i found about tv in the uk while surfing.

“As someone from the Left, I am not expected to object to the spread of bad language and other squalid habits infecting our society. There are many of us today on the Left who can see that something precious, possibly unrecoverable, is being destroyed and that we have a responsibility to try to stop this dissolution.

The corruption of language in public culture is just one aspect of the general coarsening of life which is taking us down into the pits. Television, in particular, has now reached such depths it is hard to imagine where it can go next. If, as I did recently, you try to debate this genuine anxiety, felt by millions, with the highly placed men and women who are responsible for British TV, they will not engage except with majestic disdain and superciliousness. Or they react with fearful paranoia as if we wanted to shut down the whole business and force the nation into bible-reading every evening.

It is time, I believe, to take an honest look at all television output. Never in our history have British children had such relentless, often third rate, shrill and brainless television programming that they are offered today. It was Aristotle who said that law makers should be extremely careful about indecent language ‘for the light utterance of shameful words leads soon the shameful actions’. Maybe if we had been more vigilant with the words, much of the depressing coarsening of life could have been avoided.” Daily Mail 17/7/2003

Like this:

Tom Sharp, 71, said he was talking to his half-German daughter in the Packhorse pub in the Peterborough village of Northborough when their conversation slipped into German.

Mr Sharp, who also served with the Royal Signals for 26 years during which he met his wife Anni in Germany, said the pub’s landlady flew into a rage when she heard the language being used on Wednesday evening.

He claims she told him: “We are white, you are English so you speak English in my pub otherwise get out.”

Other drinkers who witnessed the row and spoke up for Mr Sharp and his 49-year-old daughter Nichole Falconer were also ejected, he said.

“I honestly couldn’t believe she was telling us we couldn’t speak German. Now and again the odd German phrase slips up – it is my daughter’s mother tongue. It is natural,” he said.